Bad News

In Tokyo, the Island Nation's capital, Yashiro Rokuro, First Sea Lord, and Admiral Shimamura Hayao, head of naval command, had been waiting for news from the Combined Fleet. Although Admiral Ijūin Gorō had assured them that he would fight to the bitter end, they had no confidence at all that the Combined Fleet could defeat the German Expeditionary Fleet.

The Island Nation Navy might reign supreme in the Far East, but that was only because in the mountains where there were no tigers, monkeys called themselves kings. Compared with the first-rate naval powers of the West, the Island Nation Navy's meager strength was nothing at all.

For precisely that reason, Yashiro Rokuro and Admiral Shimamura Hayao were deeply worried. Knowing full well that their fleet would be defeated, yet having to wait helplessly for the result of that crushing defeat, was indeed a torment.

"Perhaps Amaterasu Omikami will bless us and let us defeat the Germans. Just like the Kamikaze in history, which wiped out the mighty Yuan fleet," Yashiro Rokuro said with a smile.

"Who knows? Those German warships are gigantic vessels of tens of thousands of tons. Even the Kamikaze would find it hard to blow them over!" Admiral Shimamura Hayao wore a bitter smile.

"Yes. Compared with the Germans, the gap in our strength is simply too great. If the Empire also possessed a world-class navy, how could the Germans possibly be so arrogant?" Yashiro Rokuro said.

"The German Navy is the strongest in the world. Even the British Empire, once the hegemon, was beaten flat by them. With such strength, their arrogance is understandable. In my view, the Empire should do as it did when it defeated Qing China: pool the strength of the entire nation and vigorously develop the navy. Only then might we contend